Bicycling has become a very popular form of recreation in the past decade as both a sport and means of exercise for professional riders and amateurs alike. Due to the increase in demand, bicycle manufacturers have emerged with ever more specialized forms of equipment which have become very expensive. Therefore, bicycles of today are becoming increasingly susceptible to theft because of their great value. As a result of this, very sophisticated locks have been designed replacing the old chain type lock to provide greater protection from theft.
One bicycle component which has become more advanced is the bicycle seat. It has been recognized that in a racing situation, it is important to be able to quickly remove the seat. Based on this requirement, many bicycles are equipped with quick release devices to allow the seat, as well as the wheels to be quickly and easily removed. However, these quick release devices also allow quick and easy theft of seats and wheels which are left unattended. Special bicycle locks have been developed which allow a quick release wheel to be removed from its corresponding forks and locked together with the bicycle frame and remaining wheel for adequate protection from theft.
Bicycle seats are presently not designed to be locked with the frame and wheels when a cyclist locks the bicycle. Therefore, to prevent theft of the seat, the cyclist is now required to remove the quick release seat and take it away from the bicycle. This may be inconvenient and may also result in loss due to inadvertent misplacement.
The increasing cost of currently designed bicycle seats makes it necessary and important to provide some means of protecting bicycle seats from theft while reducing any added inconvenience to the cyclist.